Sparrows (United Artists) (1926)

Special Features Good for the Woman s Page Lady Mary Goes A-Shopping Two of Mary Pickford’s Personal Recipes By Grace Gray Mary Pickford gets the same thrill out of a shopping tour as Milady Shop¬ per of (name your city). When in New York her tours of the shops are usually really processions, for crowds often follow iher until she has to give up in despair and return to her hotel. In Los Angeles many shoppers stop to shake her by the hand and speak to her, but she is never followed by crowds. Miss Pickford has her favorite stores, and her favorite salespeople whom she usually asks for when entering a de¬ partment. She also has her favorite luncheon places. One is a soda fountain in a confectionery store on the edge of the business district in Los Angeles. Al¬ though there is^ large dining room in connection, Miss Pickford and her sec¬ retary take stools at the soda fountain and order lunch from the boy who officiates there. Needless to say, the day is an entire success for that boy, whenever Miss Pickford shops. Downtown traffic cops in Los Angeles know Miss Pickford’s car, and salute her gravely as she passes by. Every floor manager in the city recognizes her at a distance, and needless to say, she gets the most wonderful service from the moment she steps inside the door until she leaves. Often Miss Pickford shops in the cheaper stores, especially when buying costumes for pictures in which she plays a ragged little girl. Then she wears a very simple little disguise, so that she is not recognized. She does this so that she can obtain “atmosphere” for her pictures. If she were known, the people she meets would be ill at ease, and would “step out of character” as a result. One day while buying girls’ dresses n the basement of a store in the cheaper section, Miss Pickford noticed a mother and her baby. She bought the baby a toy, took the woman’s address and gave them both work in her new pic¬ ture, “Sparrows.” Her shopping tours are always an adventure, but those she enjoys the most are just before Christmas or husband Douglas Fairbanks’ birthday. Mary Pickford—An Impression at Close Quarters By Grace Gray Mary Pickford must have been the most adorable child in the world. In fact after having seen her in the flesh, I am convinced that she is still the most adorable child in the world. The lovely little girl she was, still lives in her eyes and in her heart but most of all in her heart. This is the secret of her rare ability to portray to our utmost satisfaction the joys and sorrows of childhood. The spirit of youth surrounds her personality like faint perfume. Mary tried to bury the little girl in gorgeous costumes and under an assumed personality, but the shroud would not hold such loveliness. It was only a little girl making believe and Alary, when I visited her during the making of “Sparrows,” her latest production, confided to me that she was glad to return to the roles of childhood. And the marvelous reception of her “Little Annie Rooney” proved that her public were happy to have their little girl back again. Mary has but scant need for makeup for any of her roles. She is even tinier than I had imagined her—but four feet eleven inches in height and weighs five pounds less than a hundred. In fact I could scarcely credit my eyes, so perfectly did she fit into the group of youngsters working with her in the “Sparrows” cast. But rather than her stature her eyes arrested my attention. One look into their clear hazel depths, candid as those of a child and starry with ex¬ pectation brings back a faith in fairies and the goodness of the world. People marvel at Mary’s ability to play childish roles, but I think I have discovered her secret. Like “Peter Pan” she will never grow up. The fairies must have blessed her at birth for they gave her the most precious of all precious gifts—imagination. She lives in a beautiful land of make-believe where she permits no ugly or sordid thought to enter. She is sweet in a way far beyond mere saccharine sweetness with a naturalness and unaffectation that neither fame nor position have been able to vanquish. Mary does not counterfeit the ways of a child. She IS that child to her very soul and it is her soul that shines through all her work—a soul that expresses a child’s beautiful faith, a child’s hope and a child’s love. So long as she holds this soul of a child, Our Mary can never grow old, but like the fabled Narcissus, may gaze forever into the mirrored pool and kiss the beautiful reflection of her own constant youth. “The World’s Sweetheart” loves sweets. She likes all sorts of good things to eat, of course, but best of all she likes sweets. And she is among the fortunate few who can indulge in them without counting calories. The dessert, Mary Pickford thinks is the best part of a meal, and so she feels that it should be especially at¬ tractive and delicious. Walnut cream sauce and lemon pie are two of her favorites and here are the recipes for them so that you may serve them in your home just as they are served in the Pickford-Fairbanks household. Walnut Cream Sauce 1 tablespoon butter 1 cup brown sugar cup cream, Yi cup chopped walnuts Cook all together for five minutes Use as sauce to improve any sort of dessert. Radio Lemon Pie Grated rind of one lemon 3 tablespoons lemon juice 1 cup sugar 2 tablespoons butter Yl cup cream 4 eggs Put butter, lemon juice, sugar and cream to boil; add the well-beaten eggs; cook two minutes; fill baked crust, then put in oven to brown one minute. The Amazing Rise of Mary Pickford from Pov¬ erty to the Greatest Influence in Pictures The career of Mary Pickford, who comes to . in her latest United Artists Corporation release, “Sparrows,” reads like a fairy tale, xer stage experience began at the-age .f five, when she was a member of the Valentine Stock Company in Toronto, /here she was born. Three years later she went on the oad with “The Little Red Schoo Touse” company and at the age of nint was starred in “The Fatal Wedding.” Between the ages of nine and thirteen he played in many melodramas, and later originated the role of “Betty Warren” * .tieiasco’s “The Warrens of Vir- Inia.” Miss Pickford than began her film areer with the Biognaph Company nder David Wark Griffith. The third ,r at the studio found her claying th< lead in a one-reel picture, “The Violin -icer of Cremona." She was with the dograph Company eighteen months, her rlary being raised from $40 a week to 00 in that time. Next she was with the Independent lotion Picture Company, later return- lg to Biograph. Then came a season n the stage in “A Good Little Devil.’ burning to the screen her rise wa;- rapid. In 1915 she was vice president of the Mary Pickford Famous Players Com pany, her salary being raised frorr $1,000 a week to $2,000, plus a share in the profits. The following year the Mary Pickford Corporation was formed. Miss Pickford given her choice of stories, directors and cast, and a draw¬ ing account of $10,000 a week, plus a share of the profits. “In The Bishop’s Carriage,” “The Little Princess,” “Re¬ becca of Sunnybrook Farm,” and other famous stories were done at this time. In 1928 Miss Pickford entered into i contract with First National whereby she became an independent producer, and made for their release “Daddy Long Legs,” “The Hoodlum,” “and “Heart O’ the Hills.” Early in 1919 Miss Pickford became one of the organization known as the United Artists Corporation, which in¬ cluded Charles Chaplin, Douglas Fair¬ banks and D. W. Griffith. This organ¬ ization still distributes- her pictures. “Pollyanna” was her first release for United Artists, followed by Suds,” “The Love Light,” “Through the Back- Door, “Little Lord Fauntleroy,” “Tess of the Storm Country,” “Rosita,” “Dor¬ othy Vernon 'of Haddon Hall,” and- “Little Annie Rooney.” “Sparrows,” which comes to this city soon, is her latest photoplay.. The splendid acting of Mis 3 Pick¬ ford, and the clean and wholesome stor¬ ies she brings to the screen have done much to lift the motion picture indus¬ try to its present high standard, and after her many fine contributions to the amusement loving public, Mary Pick¬ ford still remains at the pinnacle of her profession. The steam engine, which rolled to fires behind plunging horses, is still useful in Hollywood. Mary Pickford used one in “Sparrows,” her new picture. It was used to heat a pool in which Mary bathed a dozen youngsters. Steam was piped to take the chill off the water and the old engine provided the steam. Can a turtle swim? Not every turtle. Mary Pickford found that out while she was making “Sparrows,” her new picture. A turtle was tossed into the swamp waters for a “gag” or comedy situation. It sank at once. In it went again with the same result Finally it was discovered that the animal was a land turtle, as helpless in water as a canarv bird.